By Greg Hill
LDS Church NewsPublished: Monday, Sep. 8, 2008
PROVO, Utah -- Joseph Smith's experience as a prisoner in Liberty Jail teaches some valuable lessons, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve told young adults during a Church Educational System fireside Sunday evening.
Elder Holland reviewed the experiences of the Prophet and some of his brethren in the dark, depressing, bitterly cold Missouri jail. He said that despite the circumstances in what has been referred to as a "prison-temple," Joseph Smith developed personally and as a prophet.
Elder Holland said everyone "in one way or another, great or small, dramatic or incidental, (is) going to spend a little time in Liberty Jail -- spiritually speaking."
"But," he continued, "the lessons of the winter of 1838-39 teach us that every experience can become a redemptive experience if we remain bonded to our Father in heaven through that difficulty."
Lessons from Liberty Jail, Elder Holland pointed out, can be found in revelations received there because "God was not only teaching Joseph Smith in that prison circumstance, but He was teaching all of us, for generations yet to come. What a spiritual gift."
He challenged listeners to read as soon as possible those revelations, found in Doctrine and Covenants, Sections 121, 122 and 123.
The first lesson "is that everyone, including (and perhaps especially) the righteous, will be called upon to face trying times," resulting in "a spiritual loneliness."
He then stressed, "But whenever these moments of our extremity come, we must not succumb to the fear that God has abandoned us or that he does not hear our prayers. ... He is there. Our prayers are heard, and when we weep, He and the angels weep with us."
The second lesson, according to Elder Holland, is that the Savior himself, though perfect, suffered trials so that He could deliver others from theirs.
"We need to realize that just because difficult things happen -- sometimes unfair and seemingly unjustified things -- it does not mean that we are unrighteous or that we are unworthy of blessings or that God is disappointed in us," Elder Holland said. "Of course sinfulness does bring suffering and the only answer to that behavior is repentance. But sometimes suffering comes to the righteous, too."
After reciting some of the Savior's trials as contained in Doctrine and Covenants 122:4-7, Elder Holland said, "In giving us this sober reminder of what the Savior went through, the revelation from Liberty Jail records, 'The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?' (Doctrine and Covenants 122:8)"
"No. Joseph was not greater than the Savior and neither are we."
Because the Savior experienced trials, Elder Holland said, as we follow Him, we can expect also to have trials.
Through the Atonement, the Savior "experienced all of the heartache and sorrow, all of the disappointments and injustices that the entire family of man has experienced from Adam and Eve to the end of the world in order that we would not have to face them so severely or so deeply," Elder Holland said.
The third lesson of Liberty Jail, he said, is that in times of difficult feelings, "the Lord reminds us from the Liberty Jail prison-temple that 'the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only (or "except") upon the principles of righteousness' (Doctrine and Covenants 121:36)."
He said that we learn from the Savior and prophets "that the real test of our faith and our Christian discipleship is when things are not going smoothly. That is when we get to see what we are made of and how strong our commitment to the gospel really is.
Concluding, Elder Holland said, "I testify that bad days come to an end, that faith always triumphs and that heavenly promises are always kept."
The fireside originated in the Marriott Center on the Brigham Young University campus and was broadcast by satellite and on the Internet around the world.
MormonTimes.com is produced by the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, Utah.
It is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Copyright © 2008 Deseret News Publishing Company
No comments:
Post a Comment